What's with all the free hosts?

[pmhoran]

My first web sites were at Free Hosts ... but I always assumed their revenues came from the banner & pop up ads ... as well as selling email lists of their members. The two companies I had free sites with (GeoCities & Homestead) ... I had email accounts I only used when I signed up with them. They were never used for any other purpose. And yet they were constantly bombarded by spam from people & companies I had never heard of.

I figured the only way those companies could have gotten my email address was if my free web hosts had given the addresses to them.

But ... after reading the responses here ... maybe my assumptions were in error.

Peter

 

[ldcdc]

But ... after reading the responses here ... maybe my assumptions were in error.

Maybe, or... maybe not. Free hosting has evolved over the years. There was a time when free hosts were claiming rights over the content you uploaded on their servers for example.

 

[Exon]

In the past we have given away/offered a couple free accounts, but currently we have only 3 free accounts. In total their monthly transfer requirement is about 10GB and storage is less than 5GB. In actuality their combined totals have not maxed out, and they are all for a good cause, or are nonprofit. In exchange they provide text/graphical links and in some cases they have actually sent us a check or two to compensate.

 

[THB-Mark]

Hello,

The hosting industry is a hard industry with long hours and low but and it amazes me today that most people prefer to look for hosting for free or for a $1 for a year!! rather than pay a decent fee for quality hosting that actually keeps your site online.

Maybe one day it will turn.

 

[PVT-Jordan]

If your running a personally site, it's perfectly fine to be interested in a free host if you don't care about reliability, but it becomes concerning when a business is running off of a free host, and even more concerning when free hosts offer the same features and reliability as paid hosts. To expect a free host to perform at 99% reliability is just ridiculous and you'll find yourself left in the cold when your free host shuts down. But many free hosts find it to be very beneficial if the right advertising method is in place to cover the costs since there are many many people looking for everything for free.